Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of insistence
Explanation
Insistence is when someone persists in forcefully asking for or requiring something. A parent's insistence might be the only reason an unmotivated teenager sits down and does his homework. A store manager's insistence on selling things for the lowest prices might be the thing that keeps customers coming back, and your insistence on reading your speech first in class might get you to the front of the line. When you insist on something, you demand it — both words come from the Latin insistere, "persist, dwell upon, or stand upon," from in-, "upon," and sistere, "take a stand."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Insistence on the supremacy of people over the natural world is cited as the primary source of environmental destruction.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 15, 2024
Insistence on acquiring knowledge while gaining power for progressive forces will be vital.
From Salon • Sep. 6, 2024
Insistence upon the widest possible degree of individual freedom.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2016
Insistence that this was "just another game" notwithstanding, Miami started quickly.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 29, 2012
Insistence on the point of finances brought the general post office into sharp collision with the colonial legislatures for a number of years.
From The History of the Post Office in British North America by Smith, William, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
